Another home improvement-decor project

The wide-angle shot

With much appreciation to Bud for assisting with hanging this custom wallpaper, a project years in the making is complete.

It is rewarding when a vision becomes reality. I had been wanting to do a custom mural of trees on this long wall in the living room and searched through many Boundary Waters photos for just the right set of trees.

Not finding one I took advantage of a trip to Door County, Wisconsin in the winter of 2022 to take specific photos for use.

I edited the photo to just the right set of trees then overexposed the image to make it less realistic. Birch trees are everywhere in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin and create the vertical effect I wanted.

Photo edited mockup

In an internet search for custom wallpaper, I found photowall.com and submitted my order after a lot of measuring, double checking, and creating a photo mockup.

I ordered the custom wallpaper on February 25 and it arrived a little over a week later from Sweden!! It came in 5 different boxes with instructions and wallpaper paste! It arrived so quickly I wasn't ready to mount it. I highly recommend Photowall.com if you need any wallpaper. I did opt for the premium paper and am so pleased with it. The quality of the photo is outstanding, and you can order whatever size you want or need.

I was discussing the project with Bud at a restaurant when someone nearby interjected that I should consider sizing the wall beforehand. I had never heard of this but did some research and it sounded like a really good idea. So, I applied the sizing material to the wall yesterday and Bud and I hung the wallpaper today!

Nearing the end

I was very careful on getting the first panel plum. Figured it would all go very wrong if the whole thing was cock-eyed.

I haven't decided if I will put the Barbara Stanwyck posters back up. I can easily put them up or take them down as I kept the hangers available.

Again, many thanks to Bud for helping out.

Maggie wonders what all the fuss is about

The original photo of birch trees

Africa Adventure - Amalinda Lodge and Matobo National Park

There is so much of the adventure to Zimbabwe, Africa to recount. This blog post covers some of the adventure at our first location, Amalinda Lodge and the Matobo National Park. Quick link to video.

The adventure started Monday, April 1 for Marlin and Tuesday, April 2 for Pam, Susan, and me. We met up in Johannesburg, South Africa on April 3. And on April 4 we flew together to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Other than my pocketknife being confiscated (my mistake) and me forgetting deodorant, the travel went smoothly. There was some confusion about luggage going all the way to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe or whether it could be intercepted in Johannesburg.

We landed at Bulawayo International Airport on Thursday, April 4 and were met by Phil, the co-owner of Amalinda Lodge. Phil took us to the Amalinda offices in Bulawayo. We got to meet the staff including Shaun who was such a great help setting up our entire tour and was so willing and able to answer all our questions before the trip.

I have to mention the weather early on. Southern Africa is in the midst of a very dangerous drought. April is the end of the rainy season however the area did not receive nearly enough rain during the season. The lack of rain was universally attributed to the El Niño in the Pacific Ocean. The good news for Southern Africa was that we brought an incredible amount of rain. It poured while we were in Johannesburg and rained a little or a lot every day until we were in Victoria Falls at the end of our trip. We certainly could not complain and while it was mentioned that the rainy, damp weather impacted the animals being out and about, we were still able to find nearly every animal that was expected.

View of pool and pool house

From the Amalinda Collection offices, we soon arrived at the lodge which is outside of Matobo National Park. Driving on the left side in Zimbabwe takes a bit of getting used to. We were able to relax for the remainder of the afternoon. The lodge has an amazing (you are going to see that word a lot) pool that is actually a giant rock depression filled with water. But every time I got in the pool, there would be a crack of thunder and some lightening followed by some much needed rain.

Mother and Child formation

We met Edward who would be our guide during our stay at Amalinda. After dinner and a long day, we were in bed by 9pm.

You are constantly reminded of the striking geology of the Matobo Hills. Formed by volcanoes a long time ago, erosion has left stunning and unbelievable rock formations that seem to defy gravity.

Our first photo safari ride was to the Northern Wilderness Area of Matobo National Park in search of white rhinoceros. We stopped at the Park Headquarters to pick up Shelton, a park ranger to assist. Shelton carried a rifle as protection against poachers.

After a lot of driving and tracking, Shelton trekked us through the bush and tall grass to two rhinos. We had lost Edward at this point. Shelton's ability to guide us and track the rhinos at the same time was much appreciated. We were just 30 feet from two white rhinos!

Nsvatuke Cave Paintings

Back to the lodge for lunch and a short rest before driving to another part of the park and the Nsvatuke cave paintings. This was a long and rough ride but really fun. There are caves all over the Matobos Hills and many of them have paintings and significant cultural uses and meanings. We drove back in the dark while avoiding many of the cattle that are allowed to graze in the parks and along the roads.

On the second day (Saturday, April 6) of photo safaring, Edward took us to the Whovi Game Park section of the Park. Our goal was to see black rhinoceroses but we were not successful. We did see a very large male white rhino and lots of other animals including our first hippopotamus.

From the game park we stopped at Ethandweni Children's Home. Pam has volunteered at this orphanage and wanted to re-connect with Lucien who runs it. She also got to meet two of the children she had met when they were very little.

After lunch Pam and I were relaxing at the spectacular pool when Edward brought the lodge zonkey and zebras by. Pam and I got stranded at the pool when a very heavy rainstorm came (oops, I got in the pool again!).

Bundled up against the wind and rain

The storm finally passed but the weather was very threatening. We were convinced to go out on our next adventure to Cecil Jones Rhodes grave site. Well, we didn't make it halfway when the next wave of a very severe storm came up. We turned around but stopped at Fort Inungu (a roadside plaque) so that Edward could give us the history of Rhodes and the indigenous people of Zimbabwe. Just as he was wrapping up the history, the storm descended on us. Poor Edward got completely soaking wet driving us home.

The heavy rains were the most the lodge had measured since December!

We were always treated to incredible meals at Amalinda. Travel opens your eyes to the rest of the world. We shared the dinner table with people from Germany, Denmark, Zimbabwe, and America. We had dinner with Sharon and Phil, the owners of The Amalinda Collection and founders of Mother Africa Trust. A portion of every safari reservation fee goes to support the projects of Mother Africa Trust.

Following dinner, we played a round of Five Crowns card game (Marlin won) under the gaze of a white frog. Be sure to ask Pam and Susan about the white frog in their room.

There are so many more little stories and encounters but don't want to make this blog too long. Ask about the resurrection plant 😊or all the cattle or the burned-out car that served as a mile marker.

The next day (Sunday, April 7) we were driven from Amalinda Lodge to Khulu Tent Camp and Lodge on the east side of Hwange National Park. The drive itself was quite an adventure. Be sure to watch the video to the end to see the "truck incident."

Video of the Amalinda leg (no music but some occasional audio commentary) - click here. The animal blog/video is available here.

Africa Adventure - Birds

Now it is the birds' turn. I was going to include the birds in the first blog/video post but realized I had taken photos of quite a few birds.

I am not a birder checking of a list world birds, but I did find it interesting and got a reputation of being the "bird guy." These photos would not be possible without the camera from Jenny B -- "thank you!"

The birds seemed to like when it was cool and wet in the mornings, and we had a few of those kinds of days.

Our guides were so good at pointing at the different birds and their characteristics.

You will notice that I was completely enthralled with one particular bird - the Lilac-Breasted Roller. It is incredibly pretty, very wide-spread and photogenic. I was not able to capture it in flight which is too bad because the wings are fantastically blue. We did catch a pair displaying which is how they get their names. The roll in flight! Here is a photo with the wings open.

Some of the bird names I remembered, some I got help with, some I looked up with a reverse image search, and some I couldn't figure out.

As usual, the video is best viewed in landscape. Click here for Africa - Birds video.

And a link to the Africa - Animal post and video.

Africa Adventure - Animals

Acacia Tree, Hwange National Park

Wanted to get out a video quickly about my recent adventure to Africa. Traveled to Zimbabwe with 3 friends for 2 weeks. We stayed at 4 different lodge/camp sites which were located in Matopo National Park, Hwange National Park, and Zambezi National Park. The video covers the animals we saw. There will be additional videos and blog posts on each of the lodges/camps and more of the adventure of it all. 

I am grateful to my friend Jenny for loaning me her Canon camera. The photos and videos you will see are primarily taken with her Canon PowerShot with 50X optical zoom. And full disclosure, the photos have been "cleaned up" using Microsoft photo editing software.

Click here for the video which is designed to be watched in landscape. The video is 6 minutes long.

Stay tuned for future blog posts and videos of this bucket list trip.

A link to the Africa - Birds post and video.

Home Improvement - Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen Project 2024 - Get the Cabinets Painted

I originally considered having the cabinets refaced. I contacted two different companies but one wouldn't work in downtown Minneapolis and the other company never got back to me!

My kitchen cabinets aren't really top quality and will probably need to be replaced at some point but in the meanwhile, I decided to have them painted. I saw blue cabinets on HGTV's "Love It or List It" and I really like blue so decided that would be the color. I also like the idea of having lighter top cabinets. I was inspired by the pillowcases on my bed!

I completely underestimated the impact this project would have on my and Maggie's lives. I hired an excellent painter, but this project required that I remove everything from the cabinets, select and purchase paint, and not use my kitchen for an extended period of time. I lost access to the refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishwasher, sink, etc.

The painter and his one-man crew did an excellent job masking off everything. It was a crazy combination of paper, plastic, and painter's tape. Since the kitchen is part of one big room, it was not a straightforward job.

We also had problems with the grey paint. I won't bore you with the details, but it took 3 tries to get enough of the right paint. And picking cabinet hardware! Oh, my. After scrolling through pages on Amazon and visiting multiple stores, I ended up choosing something very similar to what was on the cabinets in the first place! Ha!

I am very happy and pleased with the final project. Here is the link to my video (of course, there is a video)

PS - this project kind of celebrates my 3rd anniversary living downtown. I closed on the condo 3 years ago March 26th.

A Short Trip Up North

Click on the image to view the video

FYI the video is best viewed in landscape mode.

Apparently, I can't spend more than a month or so at home without needing to go somewhere. I decided a short trip up the North Shore of Lake Superior would be a good option. And why not go to Thunder Bay, Canada, so I could 1) visit a new place and 2) say I left the country.

My friend Bud agreed to join me and Maggie (my cat). Maggie was way overdue for a road trip and to try out our new cat-carrying backpack.

We left Minneapolis Wednesday morning. Stopped in Duluth at the Duluth Grill for brunch. If you have not eaten here, you should. The food is crazy good. Headed up Highway 61 to Lutsen to stay at Solbakken Resorts which was the only pet-friendly resort I could find in the area. We made really good time and got to the resort before check-in time. We went on up to Grand Marais and stopped at Voyageur Brewery for a beer.

Back at Solbakken where Maggie got comfortable and we relaxed...honestly, I think all three of us fell asleep. Woke up in time to see a beautiful sunset. Solbakken is right on the Lake so we walked down to the water to see all the colors.

There is virtually no snow anywhere! And it wasn't super cold. There was also NO ice on Lake Superior. It has been a very strange winter. After napping and sunsetting, we went up Lutsen Mountain to have dinner at Moguls restaurant.

Thursday Maggie got back in the car and we started our trip to Canada stopping in Grand Marais at Java Moose for coffee. I follow the owner of Jave Moose on Instagram. She wasn't there but the coffee shop is right on the bay and such a lovely, friendly place. I had never been past Grand Portage and Thunder Bay is only about an hour away so getting to Canada is a piece of cake. There is an incredible overlook at the top of Mount Josephine that gives a full 180 view of Lake Superior.

The border between the US and Canada is the Pigeon River. The Grand Portage State Park is also there as is the tallest waterfall in Minnesota! The Grand Portage Ojibwe people along with the MN Department of Resources have created an accessible trail to view the falls. It is a super easy 1 mile there and back. With little to no snow there were just a few places where the boardwalk was icy. The views of the falls are spectacular.

From the State Park it is just a few hundred yards to the border crossing. I assured the Canadian border agent that Maggie would not be let free in Canada and we were allowed to pass. One odd geographic thing once in Canada was how flat the Canadian side is. After a short way into Canada, you are in the Slate River valley and lots of farmland. Northern Minnesota is not like this as it is hilly and tree covered.

Maggie in the backpack

Okay, Thunder Bay...I had been warned that there wasn't much to Thunder Bay and Bud and I have to agree. It is an amalgamation of two "towns" Port Arthur and Fort William. There are a lot of train tracks and apparently a port. The city doesn't really take in the "Bay" that it is on. We asked about an "old town" or touristy area and were told there isn't really any. We ate lunch at an okay place and walked around Port Arthur Park (Maggie got to get her first backpack adventure) but headed back to the US in short order. If you do plan a trip to Thunder Bay, be aware that it is in the Eastern time zone!

Back in Minnesota, we drove through a small grove of old growth trees on the Arrowhead Trail. This is something I had seen on one of my Boundary Waters trips. To be honest it isn't that impressive, but it is nice to know it is still there.

Back at Solbakken, we rested before having a very nice dinner at Cascade Lodge Restaurant. Friday we headed home first stopping at Coho Cafe in Tofte for breakfast.

Click here for link to the trip video.

Master Bath Vanity Light Upgrade

Two things I did not like about the vanity light in the master bathroom. It was outdated and it didn't actually reach from sink to sink. You had to stand in the middle of the vanity to get full light (both sides of your face) but that meant there wasn't a sink below you. Not optimal.

Turns out you really cannot get a multi-light vanity fixture that is much wider than the one I had. I came across LED light bars that come in various lengths. To stretch from sink to sink it had to be at least 48 inches long. Turns out Maxim Lighting available at Creative Lighting in St. Paul has LED light bars in various lengths including one 48" long.

I was able to easily install the new fixture in a few minutes. It was a little tricky getting the wire nuts on as the unit is a bit wonky being so long. But it is very light weight, and I was able to maneuver it.

I really like the amount of light it puts out. The light is also dispersed really well.

I can now see both sides of my face when standing at either sink. Since the fixture is LED, I don't expect it to burn out any time soon...which is a good thing because I'm not sure if you can replace the LED bulb(s). There are no instructions.

I decided to use the old fixture with 4 lamps in the guest bathroom which had the same fixture but with only 3 lamps.

It looks good and brightens that bathroom as well.

The most time consuming part of the whole thing was cleaning the old fixtures. Apparently when the bathrooms were painted, the painter didn't worry about taking the glass globes off let alone the fixtures. The fixtures had paint on them that took some Goo Gone and elbow grease to remove.